Airbus on July 2, 2012 announced the construction of a $600 million aircraft assembly plant in Mobile. (Mike Kittrell/mkittrell@al.com)

MONTGOMERY, Alabama – The accolades for the $600 million Airbus final assembly plant at Mobile’s Brookley Aeroplex just keep on coming, and this time the state’s chief economic development officials are the honorees.

Expansion Solutions Magazine has awarded the Alabama Department of Commerce a “Top Five Award of Excellence” for successfully recruiting, retaining and assisting growing companies in the states aerospace and defense sector for 2012.

“From a highly skilled workforce, to infrastructure and available suppliers for the industry, Alabama is positioned to support the aerospace industry today and in the future,” the recognition reads.

The city of Guntersville, Ala., also received an award from the Birmingham-based magazine as a “Top Five” agribusiness organization, and honorees were also named in the fields of food processing and data centers.

According to Expansion Solutions’ website, the Top Five awards recognize economic development organizations which have shown “exceptional” development progress and potential.

The magazine singled out Alabama’s commerce department for continuing to nurture a thriving aerospace sector that dates back to the establishment by Orville and Wilbur Wright of the first civilian flying school in Montgomery and most recently welcomed the news Toulouse, France-based Airbus will construct its first final aircraft assembly plant on U.S. soil in Mobile.

In between, the report states, Alabama has become home to hundreds of aerospace and defense companies that have created more than 73,000 direct jobs with an annual payroll of more than $3 billion.

The Airbus facility, for which ground will be April 8, is expected to create 1,000 direct jobs by the time the first Mobile-assembled A320 family aircraft take flight in 2016, “but add to that the fact that experts say one assembly line job with Airbus could span as many as three to four additional jobs when related industry comes to the area to support the company’s needs, and the news could place Alabama in the middle of a massive aerospace corridor,” the report states.

“The fact that such a prestigious company located its first U.S. plant in the state is already drawing attention to Alabama worldwide; much like the Mercedes-Benz announcement did in 1993. Alabama is already a U.S. leader in automotive manufacturing and the Airbus announcement puts the state in line to be the next aerospace power center,” the report concludes.

The four other honorees in the aerospace and defense category include:

Quad Cities First, the Davenport, Iowa/Moline, Ill.-area’s support of some 500 businesses fulfilling U.S. Department of Defense contracts, more than 70 of which are located on the Rock Island Arsenal that supports more than 54,000 active, reserve components, retired military, civilian employees and family members within a 150-mile radius.

Rockford Area Economic Development Council, the sixth largest aerospace epicenter in the nation based on concentration of production employment and one of the largest in the nation in overall aerospace employment. More than 200 aerospace suppliers have operations in the Greater Rockford, Ill., area, which stretches east toward Chicago and north into central Wisconsin.